Palace Theatre, Aberdeen

Topping the bill at the Palace this week is the naval comedy illusion entitled "The Mystery Gun." The setting for this short sketch is exceedingly effective, representing the deck of a Dreadnought with the mystery gun well in the foreground. A young Lieutenant has invented the gun which, he claims will fire any object, dead or alive through a steel plate without injury to the projectile. In order to test his faith in the invention the lieutenant offers himself as "cannon fodder", but his sweetheart, the captain's daughter, Miss Erica O'Foyle demands the right to the honour of being the first live projectile to pass through the gun. After some amusing asides she is eventually installed in the barrel and the gun is fired at remarkably short range. The young lady passes through the target alighting on her feet behind the erection. Two lively seamen add considerably to the merriment of the sketch. (Aberdeen Press and Journal - Tuesday 14 December 1915)

Miss Ellis Drake [Actress] produced the performance and played Mrs Thompson, George Westland was Mr Thompson. A revue is published on the Thursday so the play is presumed to have been premiered on Monday 12 June 1916. The review reads: Ellis Drake and Company, In "Wullie", a funny Scottish sketch, provide a principal turn here. Miss Drake does well as Mrs Thompson and George Westland is good as Mr Thompson. The Brooks are clever trick cyclists, and Sydney Brandon is well received.' ('The Stage' 15 June 1916).

The Eight Jutland Boys

'the bright particular star being Gus Keeling, the popular naval comedian. This should prove an irresistible draw' (Aberdeen Evening Express, 19 January 1918)

‘A thrilling four-act play entitled “Carry On,” or “The Secret. Aeroplane,” dealing with the spy peril, is the attraction at, the Palace Theatre this week. The play is from the pen of G. Gordon Jefferson, late manager of the Coliseum Theatre, Glasgow. The plot centres round the machinations of two enemy spies who get into this country in the guise of American tourists and endeavour to steal a powerful new type of British aeroplane. Everything is done to produce realistic effects in the staging of the play, one scene showing a fight in the air between two aeroplanes. There is also a special wireless installation which is used for communication with German submarines. The piece was capably acted'. Aberdeen Press and Journal and Aberdeen Evening Express, both 17 September 1918.

‘The top-of-the-bill turn is a sketch presented by Messrs J. J. Mannix and Ernest Montefiore, entitled “A German Shell,” in which the effect of the brutality of the Germans is brought out. The scene is laid in the living room of an Irish farmer’s cottage. A young Irishman who went to Canada and set up as a farmer surprises his parents by coming home as soldier, after having been two years lighting in France. He finds on his arrival that his brother is prominent in the Sinn Fein movement. His narrative of his experiences in France and details of the campaign of the enemy against women and children deeply impress his brother, who forthwith decides to fight for the Empire and take his part in the struggle for liberty. The acting throughout last night was skilful and effective, and there was frequent applause at the more telling passages’. Aberdeen Evening Express, 24 September 1918.

Performed as apart of the Arthur Hinton Repertoire season.

‘“The Black Sheep of the Family” is the title of the play to be staged next week at the Palace Theatre. Mr Arthur Hinton and his repertoire company continue their unbroken success, and several record audiences have been housed during their Aberdeen season. The piece next week is by Gladys Hastings Walton. It plays in six scenes, is a powerful piece of stagecraft, and is sure to provide instruction and enjoyment’ (Aberdeen Press and Journal, Saturday 14 November 1925). The Aberdeen Press and Journal, 16 November 1925, advertised the Arthur Hinton Repertoire Co. in ‘the record-breaking play “The Black Sheep of the Family” Thrilling! Tense’ at the Palace Theatre. ‘The success which has attended the efforts of Mr Arthur Hinton and his dramatic company since they opened at the Palace Theatre has clearly proved that there are many lovers of the drama in the city. This week a typical example of the real old melodrama - Gladys Hastings Walton's “The Black of the Family" – is presented, and last night it had a rousing welcome from large audiences ... Love, hate, and villainy - all that goes to make up a thrilling melodrama - are present, and the result is a thoroughly enjoyable entertainment. The acting is excellent. Arthur Hinton as the "black sheep," plays his part admirably, and Mr Joseph Bloor, in the difficult role of the villainous younger brother, is convincing. Miss Madge Hope personates the scheming woman with artistic skill, while the acting of Miss Peggy Courtenay, as the young and beautiful heiress, makes a strong appeal. Mr Travers Green made an ideal old nobleman, and Mr George Shreeve filled the part of an American "tough" as if to the manner born. Miss Margery Marsh cleverly filled the role of the wronged girl, as did Mr Arthur Trail the part of the butler. The humour was in the hands of Miss Laura Wright, who has established herself as a firm favourite. Mr Noel Howlett and Mr William Frazer filled the minor roles in a capable manner. The orchestra is under the conductorship of Mr Ernest Wolfe’ (Aberdeen Press and Journal, 17 November 1925). ‘This week the Hinton Company are performing a melodrama – “The Black Sheep of the Family” - that, from title to final curtain, is entirely true to type. It is a melodramatic version of the theme of "The School for Scandal” - Joseph and Charles Surface - the bad brother - and he is very, very bad - posing as good, and the hero, the nominal black sheep, with an alternately devil-may-care and intense temperament. The scene is at one time aristocratic, complete with peer and butler, at another sordid, complete with "toughs" and "dope.” There is the heir, disinherited for something of which is innocent; there is kidnapping; there is murder - as the play has an American tinge one may say "Some murder!” The victim is stabbed, if I remember rightly, five times. The villain is a fellow who mak's siccar [sic], and, true to type, a debonair fellow withal - until remorse begins to eat into his vitals and drives him to drink. The end is suicide, off, and, immediately following, there is a pleasant little scene of kittenish lovemaking between hero and heroine; curtain. There are no half-lights in such a play, even the change of lighting from day to evening occurs with tropic suddenness. Comedy allows tense melodrama with no shading off, sometimes the one breaks into the other with refreshing insouciance on the part of author - Gladys Hastings Walton - and actors ... the audience at the Palace Theatre does not care a hoot for stagecraft in the abstract. They feel, rather than know, technical expertness in the acting. For them the play and the acting are the things. The scenery even does not matter. There was probably to them no piquancy in the fact that, when it was announced that the scene was a street in New York, the curtain rose on a very recognisable representation of High Street, Edinburgh, and there was precipitated on to the foreground of John Knox's house a coal-black mammy and a Bowery “tough” ... After the actors, the audience at the Palace Theatre is the important factor, and the auditorium is as well worth the watching as the stage. Women predominate. They lean forward tensely at the crucial moments, and the triumph of hero and heroine or the utterance of a moral platitude is followed by a great wave of applause. On the other hand, the sometimes broad comedy is received with shouts of laughter. The villain gets only stony silence during the play, but, when the play is over and the veil of illusion rent, the audience realises that he was only acting, and the villain receives his honours with the hero. It is quite evidently a faithful audience, and, being so, they best realise the capabilities of the Hinton company ... Here then is simple, elemental theatrical fare, and if anyone wishes an invigorating tonic in the way of entertainment I advise them to visit the Palace Theatre. I had almost intended to say that highbrows should take off the top storey before they go, but there is no need. Even they will soon succumb to the ability of the Hinton Company to play melodrama in the only way it can be played - for all it is worth. The enjoyment of the highbrow may be set at a different angle from the majority of the audience, but it will be none the less acute. Fashionable London flocks to the stalls of the Lyceum Theatre when the melodramas of the Melville Brothers are being played. The elite of Aberdeen may therefore fill the stalls of the Palace Theatre without qualm, and in comfort and enjoyment’ (Aberdeen Press and Journal, 18 November 1925). ‘“The Black Sheep of the Family” has a vivid interpretation at the hands of Arthur Hinton and his repertory company [at the Palace, Aberdeen]. Arthur Hinton is an effective black sheep, and Joseph Bloor a convincing villain. Peggy Courteney, Madge Hope, Margery Marsh, Travers Green, George Shreeve, and Laura Wright all fill their parts successfully’ (The Stage, 19 November 1925).

Presented by the Arthur Hinton company.

Presented by Arthur Hinton's company.